By Kiah Collier |
April 25, 2014
| Updated: April 25, 2014 11:26pm

Early voting begins Monday in a special election to fill the seat vacated last year by former state Sen. Tommy Williams.

The Woodlands Republican left the upper chamber last October after a decade in office to serve as vice chancellor of federal and state relations for the Texas A&M University System.

The following month, Gov. Rick Perry issued a proclamation scheduling a special election for May 10 to determine the next state senator for District 4, a Republican stronghold that spans Jefferson and Chambers counties and portions of Harris, Montgomery and Galveston counties. Early voting begins Monday and ends May 6.

More than 84,000 registered voters in Harris County are eligible to participate in the election, Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart said in a news release.

"Registered voters in Harris County have constituted 20 percent of the total vote in recent state Senate District 4 elections, playing a significant role in determining the outcome," said Stanart, the county's chief election officer.